Lower Entry Fees - Join Running Club

I run over 10 races a year at various locations and found out that it would be better for the purse-strings to join a running club as this would lower the entry fees (affiliated I think it is called). Which is the cheapest club to join? I don't have time to train anywhere locally, I just train on the move, where ever I am. Can anyone give me some advice? Additionally, if you are affiliated do you have to wear the club's running vest at each event? I wear different tops depending on the weather and can't really afford to renew my wardrobe. Yours in anticipation....

Wilkie - whats yours? I was moaning about this problem the other day...I will at some point next year need to be a club member to have a bash at a championship VLM place but I am a cheapskate and want to wear what I want...would you guys still mind about not wearing the vest at VLM?

I may have misunderstood your post, but you don't need to be a club member to run a champs qualifying time; you do need to be affiliated to participate in the champs start. I ran my first champs qualifier as an unattached athlete. You do need to have joined by the time you make your application, which is usually very early January. If your club enters a full team (I think 3 ladies) and wishes to try and win the team event, everyone needs to wear a club vest; from memory they pass a form round for you to tick saying that you understand that, by not wearing a club vest, your time will not count for scoring purposes but you'd need to check the EA rules to be sure.

Oooo Joolska you are good I didnt know that - great I can hold off for awhile until I have actually run the time (hopefully next year but lets not too ahead of ourselves), but Wilkie your club does exactly like the right sort of thing - cheap and relaxed = perfect!

On the subject of it - if you ran a qualifying time and then wanted to run in the GFA instead would they let you (just as an idle wondering)?

My club costs a packet but they think it's good value. We do have a running track which we share with the leisure centre and that costs, also it's an athletic club so there's other stuff like jumping and throwing.

Don't you have to wear your club vest - UKA rules or something? Not that I do unless its a league fixture.

I'd have to run rather a lot of races to get my money back, and that'd be rather expensive.

(3) In individual English County, Scottish District, Welsh Regional and National Championships, (but excluding Road Running) athletes must wear the vest of their first-claim affiliated Club, their County or National vest, or any other Representative vest approved by UKA. The affiliated Club concerned must be the one which in terms of Rule 2(4) caters for that particular discipline of athletics.

I would dis-recommend the Road Runners Club. Yes, very inexpensive but equally very unhelpful and left it to the athlete to sort out their own affiliation. Another forumite and I had no end of difficulty with them with problems with affiliation and, in the end, took our memberships elsewhere. Surprise, surprise this also caused problems and my new club ended up having to discuss it with EA to get the matter resolved.

Why not join a friendly local club? You don't have to go to all their sessions, and I don't think very many insist on you wearing the club tops. And the bonus is you get to go to races together and get a nice social aspect out of it all - you don't have to run with them all the time, but it's nice to be able to share transport, meet for a drink after a race, get suggestions and advice from other people... etc. I'd find out what's in your area and how much it costs to join them.

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